By Fr. George Dorbarakis
These Saints were from Corinth, in the times of the emperors Decius and Valerian, when Jason was governing in Greece. Saint Kodratos was basically an infant when his mother died, and he was nourished in a wondrous manner by a cloud that came over him and supplied him with food. When he reached youthful age, he became associated with Saints Anektos, Paul, Dionysios, Cyprian, and Crescens, each of whom came from different places, together with whom he was arrested for their confession in the faith of Christ, and after he was beaten very harshly, then they cut off his head, as happened also with the others.
Six lamps that are supplied by the mystical oil of the grace of God are these six martyrs whom we celebrate today, according to Saint Joseph the Hymnographer. And with their light they lessened the night of idolatry in their time, while they enlightened the faithful of the Church.
“The six-lighted lamp of Your Martyrs, O Lord, being watered with mystical oil, diminished the night of polytheism and illuminated those who cry out: Glory, O Christ, to Your power” (Ode 4).
This illuminating grace of God that shone in the Saints is owed, according to the Holy Hymnographer, on the one hand to their virtues, and on the other hand to their martyrdom. First they were prepared by their spiritual struggle and afterwards they were made radiant by the athletic contests of martyrdom. For we have said it again: it may extraordinarily happen that there is the martyrdom of blood for certain people, but the rule is that the believer has been prepared for it, so that with the grace of God he may be able to endure until the end. Here we see the role of the anointers of our Church, that is, the spiritual trainers, who prepared the candidate martyrs for martyrdom, especially in the time of the Turkish rule.
“Being adorned by the light of the virtues, at the end you obtained the brightness of the martyrs, all-wise Kodratos” (Ode 8).
And:
“You first conquered the rebellions of the passions with your asceticism, O martyr Kodratos, and then you subdued the power of the impious with your firm contest” (Ode 5).
With Saint Kodratos and the other five who struggled together with him, we have the admirable fact of the leadership of youth for a turning toward God and sanctification. It is not usual, especially in our time, for the young to guide us toward the good, that is, toward the will of God and His Kingdom. Without anyone denying that such a segment also exists among the youth, most unfortunately are turned toward the earthly pleasures and enjoyments of this life. They feel strong and healthy and consider that the world is at their feet to conquer it. Even in the present period of economic crisis and every sort of hardship, things do not seem to run differently.
The somewhat bitter observation of Elder Paisios, that the young resemble “new machines that have frozen oils,” seems to be absolutely valid. From this point of view “these six-numbered stars of the Church” (see Ode 6) acquire great relevance. For precisely they constituted a “youthful army of the Lord’s formation.” They showed by word and deed that the priority in life, even from youth, is the holy God and remaining with Him, even with the sacrifice of life. After all, the Christian faith is for the young, that is, for those who have a youthful mind and whose heart “says it.” Therefore they become models for the youth of every age.
Saint Joseph notes it: "Kodratos, illustrious one, gathering an army which all in number are young, as a formation of God, you prevailed in an excellent way against the godless, as an excellent general of your fellow-martyrs” (Sticheron of Vespers).
And certainly Saint Joseph does not lose the opportunity to note that the city of Corinth, because of the origin from there of Saint Kodratos, but also because of the possession of the honorable relics of the Saints, has them as a shield and walls to protect it, while their temple is a free clinic, in which everyone who runs to it with faith finds his healing.
Indeed, our Hymnographer emphasizes what holds true from the spiritual point of view: the relics of the saints and the churches in a region constitute the security of the faithful and their hospital. The little-believing or the unbelieving may not understand it, but the faithful themselves understand it well, and even better the originator of wickedness devil.
“Corinth possesses as fore-fortifications the honorable relics of the saints, and as a free clinic the temple; there everyone who runs with faith is released from pains and passions” (Ode 8).
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
